Guy--Part Thirty-One

Splog # 132

Thirty-One

   When the voice paused once more, Guy was left wondering whether it would be at all worthwhile to speak, to ask what was wrong and if he had done something that he shouldn't have. So far, any time he made an inquiry the voice had simply ignored him and talked on, often rapidly and, as far as Guy could tell, fairly incoherently. He found himself standing at the bottom of an ocean and listening to a voice coming from his own mouth talking endlessly and frantically about things he didn't understand. He started looking around to see if there was anything of interest in the unfamiliar landscape. The light coming from his eyes gave him an excellent view in whichever direction he looked, although having everything around the edges of his vision constantly in darkness was slightly disconcerting. It occurred to him that anything could be lurking beyond the area lighted by his vision and, by simply following the movements of his head, would be able to stalk him easily. In fact, if whatever it was remained behind him and out of sight, it could pounce on him at any time. These thoughts made Guy feel extremely uncomfortable, although he wasn't sure he would admit to being downright scared. He turned his head to the right abruptly, then to the left, then up above. He took a deep breath and spun around quickly to get a view of the area behind him. Nothing he saw seemed threatening but it was hard to shake the sense of something in all those reaches of water that couldn't be seen when he was looking elsewhere. He swung his head around a few more times and executed a jump or two trying to surprise anything hidden nearby.

   "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. What exactly is happening here?"

   In his efforts to penetrate the darkness around him, Guy had momentarily forgotten his fellow traveller.

   "Oh, excuse me, sorry, sir. I was just trying to see into the dark. I - uh - I didn't mean to disturb you..."

  "Nonsense. Nonsense. We're in this together, my dear boy. Afraid of the dark, are we? Well, if you just pay attention to what's in front of your eyes, you won't be seeing any darkness. What do you think of that?"

   "Well, I'm not really afraid of the dark, sir. But it is all around us and you never know what's in the dark until you light it up..."

   "Very astute observation. Now, you've gotten me a little bit turned around so directions might be a mite muddled. Let me see..."

   Guy's head was gently bent forward on his neck until he was looking down at the area where his feet were placed.

   "Ten steps forward, please."

   Guy had an impulse to ask a question, but quickly stifled it and walked forward ten steps.

   "Turn right, please."

   Guy did so,

   "Ten steps forward, please."

   Again, Guy complied.

   "One hundred and eighty degrees, please."

   Guy paused. He had heard of degrees but he had no idea how to make one, much less one hundred and eighty. He looked at his feet and wondered what to do next.

   "Turn around, please."

   Guy slowly made a circle, still looking at his feet.

   "Not working, Excuse me. I would like to request that you turn back in the direction from which you just came."

   Because he had continued circling around himself, Guy had now no idea of which direction he came from. He stood with his head down, motionless.

   "Excuse me, you aren't moving."

   Guy felt a little sad. He didn't want to disappoint his new friend, but he didn't know where to go, he was still somewhat uncomfortable with all the darkness around him, and he wondered what he had done to make the voice so upset just a short time ago.

   "Excuse me, Guy? Can you hear me? I'm using your mouth and your ears aren't that far away...You're not responding...Has something happened that I should be made aware of?"

   At this point, the lower temperature under the water and Guy's apprehensions of the pervasive dark around him caused the boy to begin shivering uncontrollably.

   "Oh, ok. I think I understand. We'll get you warmed up quite soon. Are you up to a bit of running? Of course, it's difficult here underwater. The movement won't be so fast but the exertion of the muscles may make you feel a little warmer. Keep your eyes looking down and it may appear at any moment."

   Guy was willing to try a run but he didn't know which direction he should head in.

   "Um - "

   "It doesn't matter where you run. Just run for a moment - well, a few moments - and then we'll figure some things out."

   Guy began sprinting on the silty sand. It was a strange sensation but not unfamiliar as he'd experienced it when he was trying to surprise whatever was hidden in the darkness. His brain would send his body an impulse to move and for a split second he would feel as though he was moving quickly, but then his movement would diminish in intensity. He could direct where his head, arms or legs would go, but the speed of any movement would be much slower than he was expecting. He pictured himself running in slow motion. It felt funny and it was an interesting sensation. He lifted his head on an impulse to make sure he didn't run into anything in the darkness and, at that moment, his right foot caught on something and he found himself falling forward.